The “best Ag Show so far” will go ahead in 2016 — with funding for the event coming mainly from the private sector.

Craig Cannonier, the Minister of Public Works, yesterday announced that the Bermuda Government had entered into a public-private partnership with the Ag Show Limited (ASL) to put on the show at the Botanical Gardens next year.

For the past three months, the two parties have been hashing out the details of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which was signed yesterday afternoon.

“With great pride and excitement I am here to tell you today that we have the MOU in hand,” Mr Cannonier said.

“After months of negotiations, we can sign this memorandum of understanding and we can begin to prepare for next year.”

The minister and ASL executive committee members, including president Antwan Albuoy, chairman David Lopes, MP Jeff Sousa, lawyer Kim White and Andrea Moniz-DeSouza, were on hand to sign the document.

Mr Albuoy said the negotiations had been “very amicable”.

He said that “for the most part the funding will come from the private sector”.

“We want to make this as easy as possible for the Government,” he said.

He added that no funds will be provided by the Government.

The group, which was set up after the Government announced that it was cancelling this year’s show because of financial reasons and damage caused by the hurricanes, hopes to raise between $100,000 and $200,000 for the event. Any extra funds will be put aside for future shows, according to Mr Albuoy, who added that although the MOU is only for one year, the group hopes to hold the event every year going forward.

While he does not see the Government making any changes to the Ag Show, he said the group have come up with some new ideas — many of which are still under wraps because they are yet to be finalised.

But Mr Albuoy revealed that the group would like to see more involvement from the animal community because they want to bring some of the event’s focus back to the Island’s “agricultural roots”.

He said this is an element that he remembers prominently from his childhood and feels has been “gotten away from” over the past years.

Executive committee member Andrea Moniz-DeSouza added: “I think it’s an honour to make sure that the history behind the event continues.

“I believe that it would be a great injustice to have future generations of Bermudians miss out on all that the Ag Show represents.”

Mr Lopes added that Bermuda has come to expect the Ag Show, which is now part of the Island’s heritage.

Even though he expects there to be a lot more hard work ahead, he said the show will be a success if all the clubs and organisations rally together. He added that while there may be some hiccups, it will probably be the best Ag Show so far.

Mr Cannonier added that he would like to see the Ag Show progress and is excited about some of the new ideas that have been put forward.

“This Government is committed to seeing the Ag Show continue, we certainly do not want to see it die,” he added.

He said that there was enormous amount of detail that had to be considered in putting on the show, which he said is “an enormous task”.

But he pointed to a lot of preparations already underway for the event, with many buildings in the Botanical Gardens under construction.

“We are confident that we now have enough time to prepare the grounds, repair damaged buildings and plan and execute a successful Ag Show in 2016,” he said.

Mr Cannonier thanked all the individuals who have been involved for the last few decades, in particular the Department of Parks and it’s director Lisa Johnston.

“For years have provided a great opportunity and service to Bermudians by allowing our young and old to display their gifts and talents,” Mr Cannonier said.

He also thanked Georgia Caines, who has been organising the event behind the scenes for many years and has “been instrumental in helping us get to this point”.